One Crazy June and July

We've reached the end of baseball season, so I can take a breath and reflect on the last two months. Overall, things were dominated by two things: baseball and bodily losses (I'll explain later...). First, to baseball!

Our family had baseball in some way, shape or form 5 days a week for the better part of June. Iris was in T-ball and played for three weeks. Felix's league team did very well during intraleague play and ultimately won the league championship! After league, the focus shifted to tournament ball. They played in three more tournaments since my last update: Port Edwards in June, Kaukauna and Pulaski in July. They won one game in the Port Edwards tournament, two in Kaukauna (Felix hit is first inside-the-park homer in one! Huge comeback in the other!), and two in Pulaski to come in 2nd in the Silver bracket at that tournament. We've watched the kids struggle and succeed, learned how to pack for tourney weekends, and all of us have made new friends. Aw.

7/29/18

We went to our first Brewers game in 6 years! The last time our family went, I was pregnant with Iris. This time, we enjoyed everything but the loss to the Dodgers. :P

7/22/18

On to the bodily losses! (Not sure how else to describe this section...) Iris lost her first tooth! She had a shark tooth for a while, and is glad the baby tooth fell out on its own. Since her permanent tooth was nearly to the height of her baby tooth, it doesn't look like there's much difference.

Also, over the course of several appointments between the end of May and the beginning of July, my doctors and I determined that I might be better off without my gallbladder. So, I had that removed and went into recovery mode for the next two weeks. So far, no ill effects and I'm learning what/when I can/should eat. As with Iris's tooth, I'll spare you a picture... 

And in the midst of all the craziness, Felix turned 9! We went to a Rafters game that night, and Felix got to throw an honorary pitch, which he thought was a strike. :o)

7/12/18

Felix: 9 yrs & Iris: 5.5 yrs

Spring Update

Whew! We made it to summer!

Spring highlights since our DC trip:

• We got over a foot of snow on April 13th. Technically, this counts as a lowlight for me, but it was definitely noteworthy and bizarre to have rain, then hail, then 13"+ inches of snow.
• Iris played soccer this spring. The first game in April was snowed up, but her 4K-1st grade team played better every week.
• Felix decided to focus on baseball this year. he joined one of the Rapids tournament teams and is also playing league ball. We got him moved up to the 10U division, because he wanted to pitch. He's been a very busy boy, with practice or games 5 days a week. Nick's been helping out with the tournament team as well.
• Iris started T-ball, too. We've been spending a lot of time at the ballpark!

• I went to Wausau with my Mom and her friend Mary to see Kinky Boots. Great show!
• We got worms! We started vermicomposting in our basement to make better use of our kitchen scraps year-round. I've been their caretaker so far. After the first few unsettling settling-in days (when dozens of worms made a break for it and had to be plucked up and returned to the bin...), things have been going well. No massive jailbreaks since. Nightmare fuel, anyone?
• We got black currant bushes! I have loved the flavor of black currant since I studied abroad in Wales. It turns out they aren't illegal in Wisconsin as I once thought. We made them into a living fence along one property line and hope to get bumper crops starting next year! We also tripled the size of our vegetable garden - more yummy goodness to come!
• Nick and I renewed our vows in a very small ceremony at our house with only our children in attendance. Nick lost his wedding ring earlier in May, and I figured it would be a nice way to celebrate our 10th anniversary by recreating our wedding ceremony, exchanging the matching silicone rings we got to make them "official", and giving the kids a little taste of what it was like for us. It took all of 6 minutes, and it was perfect.

• It was hot, hot, hot for Memorial Day weekend. We hunkered down for most of the weekend, and came out only to go out on friends' floating "island" at a local lake. Very pleasant.
• Felix played in his first tournament last weekend. The day started at 7:30 for him and ended around 9:30 pm, with three disappointing, yet lesson-filled losses.

And finally, the kids just finished up the school year. Look at those cuties and see how much they've grown! Both had a great school year and are looking forward to going back in the fall, as well as their summer adventures.

We're looking forward to a summer full of baseball, golf, gardening, and travel!

Awesome things: The Brewers being in 1st place in the division, The Great British Baking Show, Noir by Christopher Moore

Felix: 8.5 yrs & Iris: 5.5 yrs

DC Spring Break

My 200th post! Our big excitement since my last post was our Spring Break trip to Washington, DC, last week. We left on Sunday, March 25 to begin the kids' first road trip and returned seven days later...

​

We were up and out of the house by 5:45 to begin our road trip. Prior to this, the farthest we had driven with the kids was the 3.5-hour trip we took to Milwaukee last year, so we didn't know how the kids would handle DAYS in the car. Turns out, with enough stuff and snacks, surprisingly well! We drove through Chicago (with the kids marveling at the skyline) to Indianapolis. Felix's stomach did not handle the bumps of Indiana well... Good thing I brought many garbage bags and we were due for a stop. Both kids enjoyed visiting​ the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Felix took pictures of every single vehicle. I set Iris on tasks, looking for things like all the cars with a #1 on them. Unfortunately, snow on the track kept us from doing a track tour. A couple hours later, we were at our hotel outside Dayton. The kids were pretty disappointed that the lock to the pool door died just as we tried to open it, and the hotel was unwilling to fix it. :(

Future drivers?

The next day, the kids got to add several more states to their quickly-growing collection: PA, WV, MD, and VA. They enjoyed getting sandwich makings from a grocery store and eating lunch at a scenic overlook in Pennsylvania. Lots of mountains, and we spotted a license plate we hadn't seen before: Newfoundland and Labrador. Sweet. ​We got to our airbnb outside DC in late afternoon and settled in. We started watching our first season of the Great British Baking Show, and got takeout from a nearby French restaurant.

Lunch at a scenic overlook outside Uniontown, PA

Our first day in the city! ... turned out to be pretty gray and cool. We decided to take the kids to the National Air and Space Museum. We gave the kids their first taste of the Metro and they both liked it a lot. Unfortunately, we found out pretty quickly that we weren't the only ones with Spring Break plans in DC, as it took us 45 minutes in line just to enter the museum. Once in, we split up - Felix with Nick, Iris with me. I let Iris lead me anywhere she fancied around the museum. She especially liked the interactive kids exhibits we found (like getting to sit in a Cessna and play with the controls), and spent a whopping 10 minutes just riding the escalators while I watched. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Iris got a stuffed space shuttle and Felix got a model Blue Angel as souvenirs. We also tried "moon cheese". We were a little late leaving the museum to get food at our first choice​ of nearby food truck, so we settled for the "best crepes in DC" food truck. Delicious, despite the rain. We didn't think the kids were up for more museums, so we headed back to our hotel to relax. We got dinner at a nearby Dogfish Head Alehouse. Nice time, that! Another quiet evening. Or it would have been, if we hadn't spotted a mouse in the apartment... Nick was less than thrilled, but our airbnb host made amends.

Tall kids, taller rockets

Crepes!

Wednesday's forecast was again rainy and cool, so we opted to buy tickets for the DC Trolley Tour. We started off late and headed straight for Arlington National Cemetery. We got on a tram which took us on a tour of the cemetery. We witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw a full military funeral with band, guard, and horse-drawn caisson. I'm not sure the experience really sunk in with the kids, but it was meaningful. After the chill of Arlington, we headed to Georgetown on the Metro and visited a restaurant recommended to us by our host, Thunder Burger. That was quite tasty! From there, back on the Metro to get us to where we could pick up the full Trolley Tour. We caught it kind of late - around 3, but there as enough time to take the full tour. It was kind of raining, so it was good to be inside seeing the sites. Iris kept thinking the big buildings were the White House. Finally, we saw it. The trolley driver was nice and let a small group of us hope out to see the MLK monument, which I hadn't seen yet. He also went out of his way to drop us off where we could get some dinner by Chinatown. Felix was a bit crabby by that point and it was busy with hockey fans, so we headed back for base camp and a quiet evening.

It may not be exciting, but it's important.

All aboard!

Thursday morning we spent in, getting some laundry done and watching the end of the Great British Baking Show while the kids played ski jumping with their animals. We headed out after an early lunch and made our way to the National Zoo. The very high escalator on the way out of the station scared the kids. It was a lovely day - bright and nearly 80! That meant many other people had same idea. The zoo was quite crowded. Iris was a bit crabby to start, but she warmed up and both kids ended up enjoying themselves, especially after we rode the carousel and got the kids small stuffed animal souvenirs. We especially enjoyed going through the Amazonia exhibit. From there, we walked back up to the zoo entrance and met Nick's sister across the street for dinner at Duke's Counter. The kids were great, the food was great, and Nick got a chance to catch up with his sister. That was a lovely way to end our time in DC!

Loving the Amazonia exhibit and the arapaimas

Yay for family visits!

The two days spent driving home involved a lot of rain/snow/windy weather, more carsickness from Felix, and increasing irritation. But on the plus side, we did get a hotel with a functioning pool on the way back, and Nick got to test drive a Tesla at a dealership in Chicago. We were all very happy with the trip and to be safely back home.

The front seat of the Tesla model S sure looks spacious...

... compared to being squashed between two kids seats in the back!

Awesome things: Kids who CAN handle road trips, the Great British Baking Show, and The Good Place.

Felix: 8.5 yrs & Iris: 5.5 yrs

Mid-Winter Update

Another bitterly cold month has passed, so might as well give a few updates! It's been a busy few weeks!

• Iris has been in ice skating lessons this winter. She's doing pretty well! At least, she's spending more time on her feet than falling on the ice, which is an improvement. Felix passed on the opportunity this year. Instead, Nick has been taking him to the batting cages in preparation for baseball this summer.
• Nick's parents stopped by for a nice, long visit in mid-January. Lately, their visits have ended with dinner at Mikey's in Plover. No complaints there!
• We had friends over for a fancy dinner party, complete with charcuterie and cheese board. We're so adult! We let the kids join us for dinner and they behaved beautifully. Maybe we should do this more often...

Awaiting our guests.

• Iris sold Girl Scout cookies for the first time. She demolished her goal of 5 boxes. :o)
• We joined friends for an art show preview at UWSP and snagged ourselves a lovely blown glass bowl offered by a student artist. Yay, atsy centerpieces!
• We then had my parents over for dinner and visiting before they departed on a trip to Mexico.
• I spent three days home with Iris, who was struck down by the flu. Poor girl! Her fever took a while to be gone completely, but all she needed was ibuprofen and rest to get better. Fortunately, no one else in the family was hit at the same time.

Practicing camouflaging while home sick.

• We once again joined the friends we had over for our dinner party when we got together in Wausau for a WPR event - dinner and an Old Time Radio Drama (The Canterville Ghost). It was a lot of fun.

Dapper gentlemen

• Most excitingly of all, the kids competed in the rescheduled Badger State Games and Tri-Norse ski jumping tournaments yesterday. Despite the weather being either 5 or 45 degrees lately, there was enough snow for the tournaments to proceed. This was our first winter tournament, and so it was definitely a new experience! Pretty busy in the chalet, but it was low 30s and snowy, so being outside wasn't so bad. Felix was disappointed that the snow in his eyes made seeing when to jump difficult, so he wasn't happy with his second place finish. It's a learning experience and we're so proud of both of them. Iris didn't have any competition in the U6F class, but she did her best and had fun. We got to watch jumps on all the hills before the awards ceremony, which was pretty cool.

• In case you haven't noticed, the Olympics have been on. Since we stream our TV, we've been able to pick what we want to watch on delay. We've been watching a lot of curling (naturally), picking up the finer points of ski jumping, and exposing the kids to interesting sports like skeleton and freestyle aerials skiing. I admit, I'm cheering for the Norwegian men's curling team's pants as much as any American athlete... ;o)

Much more is in store for us in the coming months, so stay tuned!

Awesome thing(s): The Olympics, The Good Place, huge BSG medals

Felix: 8.5 yrs & Iris: 5 yrs

Winter Times

'Tis the season! Yikes, actually, a little past that, but better late than never!

• Nick and I started our 4th season of curling. It felt pretty good to get back out on the ice.
• Nick and I sent the kids to visit their grandparents and headed down to Madison for a weekend in November. We went to the Badger men's hockey game with my parents on Friday night. Nice win! The next morning, we were invited to go to the UW System President's house for a tailgate party with WPR and got to rub elbows with prestigious people (saw Tommy Thompson and Tony Evers at least). From there, we experienced our first game at Camp Randall in the upper deck in a long time. Another Badger win!

• The kids and I had a five-day weekend over Thanksgiving. We went up to Green Bay for a nice visit. 
• Felix was reevaluated for ADHD and prescribed medication to help get him to focus better in school. He's not hyper, but he just goes off in his own world. We've hit on a good dosage level for now, and it's making a quite a difference. We weren't initially in favor of putting him on medication, but the overall improvement of school and home life have been worth it.
• My friend Lindsey and I had an overnight stay for work in Madison, and took advantage of an opportunity to do some flame-working! We made some beautiful, wonky icicles out of glass.
• We all spent some time at nice holiday parties and got a chance to catch up with friends.
• We had lovely times with family at Christmas. In my family's tradition, we staged a theme Christmas picture. Can you guess what it is?

• We left the kids with Nick's parents for a few days after Christmas and spent a few bitterly cold days in Minneapolis. We saw Phantom of the Opera, ate and imbibed an array of offerings, and generally had a relaxing time.
• The kids were supposed to were supposed to have two ski jumping competitions this weekend, but the wonderful warm spell this week and sudden cold has put an end to those plans, at least for now.

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Awesome things: Schitt's Creek, days above 0°F, Nick's veggie spiralizer

Felix: 8 yrs & Iris: 5 yrs

Fall Adventures

Our fall so far:

• The kids have been enjoying school so far this year!
• Both kids played rec soccer this fall. They didn't have any overlapping games, but it made us doubly busy! Iris's team was mostly Kindergartners, but they started to do much better by the final game. Nick coached Felix's team again and both seemed to enjoy it.

• Nick had a WPR retreat in Madison at the end of September, and I tagged along with him. While he sat in meetings, I visited friends and took nice walks around campus. I definitely miss many things about Madison!
• The kids took up the sport of ski jumping! We went down to the Tri-Norse Ski Club in Adams County for their Tri-It day. The kids picked it up quickly and were flying down the K5 hill in no time. Because they took to it quickly, we signed them up for the tournament there the following weekend...
• ...which was a very busy weekend! We went down to Madison on Friday to attend the WPR/WPT Centennial Celebration. It was rainy, but the kids enjoyed getting their faces painted. :o)

• Saturday, we tailgated and Nick and Felix went to the Badger game with my parents. Iris and I left the tailgate when the rain started. We went back to the pool, swam and watched the game. Got together with everyone again after the game.

• Sunday, we let the kids have a quick dip in the pool, then beat it up to the ski jump hill. Both kids took first place in their divisions, which has whetted their appetite for more ski jumping and competitions.

• The kids had last Friday off, so I took the day off and took them up to Marshfield. Alas, the weather wasn't kind, but we did stop by the Wildwood Zoo for the first time. Hello, Bear!

• And finally, yesterday was Halloween! The kids dressed up and braved the chill to go to a few houses in the neighborhood. If anyone has any need for a Ninja or Astronaut, just let me know.

Awesome thing(s): smart house stuff that works, Dirk Gently, Poldark, The Durrells

Felix: 8 yrs & Iris: 5 yrs

School Year Begins

Summer is done and we are now on to our next big adventure - having two kids in grade school!

The kids started school after Labor Day. Both are very excited about this year. Felix, because he has gotten glasses to correct some farsightedness. Iris, because she's now at big-kid school. They go to different places before and after school (only one more year of that inconvenience), but with my schedule, both are able to come home together on the bus, which is a nice way to end the week.

But back to reminiscing about summer... We had a number of mini-adventures after Felix's birthday. My mom and I took the kids down to the Dells on a steaming hot Tuesday in July. The kids enjoyed the rides and slides at Mt. Olympus. Iris was a bit impatient to get into the park while we waited for my sister to drive up from Madison and join us for the day. She was mostly smiles after that.

Nick and I went to see MST3K Live! in Green Bay on a Sunday night. We enjoyed our date night while Nick's parents watched the kids. The show was fantastic, and it was a definite change of pace getting everyone ready by 6:30 in the morning so none of us were too late on Monday morning.

We took the kids kayaking on Sunset Lake one warm Sunday, and the next day, I headed down to Madison with the kids and my mom to get ever-so-slightly closer to the path of the total solar eclipse. We had a delicious lunch, followed by a long wait at the Memorial Terrace. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, but we could still tell what was going on. After the maximum eclipse, I snagged a pair of eclipse glasses from people that we leaving, so we could see for ourselves how it looked through them. The kids got a bit bored by the whole thing, but I thought it was pretty cool.

The following weekend, we counted ourselves fortunate to be among those invited to the nuptials of our friends, Kristopher and Shane. After their reception, I will definitely be looking at airplane hangers as potential event venues. :o) We had a great time dancing to the full swing band with our friends, Brian and Heidi. I raided my costume box so I could go full-vintage with a dress I bought 20 years ago that was homemade in the 50's (I assume).

Our little peanut turned 5!! Iris had a quiet birthday celebration. We took her out to McDonald's for dinner (her choice), after the elementary school open house. My parents came by later to celebrate.

And finally, both kids are in soccer this fall. Nick's coaching Felix and now Iris has something else to do on those Saturdays besides watch Felix play. Now they get to watch each other. :o)

Awesome thing(s): Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Felix: 8 yrs & Iris: 5 yrs